Ulva Island Spring Romance

Ulva Island Spring Romance

As a farmers son, spring for me was lambing, a resurgence of plant growth and a new cycle of life. Well, I haven’t delivered a lamb for 50 odd years, but a couple of days ago across on Ulva with a couple from Auckland almost the first birds we saw was a Saddleback couple busy home building. And they were very vocal, with the pair calling every minute or so. Not just this pair either, as over the 4 hours we were there I heard around a dozen different pairs calling.

Robins Pairing up as well.

We saw several pairs of Robins, with the males showing great interest in the forest litter we disturbed, and generally there was a female close by.

Nest Building

Guests up close and personal with a Stewart Island Robin

Our orchids are not large, and with their muted colours can be hard to photograph.

First Orchids

The first of our orchids to bloom are Dancing Spider Orchids (Corybas acuminatus) . The first of the embryonic blooms appeared two or three weeks ago, but we found some fully out. As you can see by the photo these are not large, and their colouring makes it easy to miss seeing them in the wet mossy areas they prefer.

Dancing Spider Orchids (Corybas acuminatus) .

Dancing Spider Orchid (Corybas acuminatus) . “Embrynic” Bloom

Normally I expect blooms to fully develop from the bud within a few days. C.acuminatus seem to take as much as two or 3 weeks, with the developing blooms reminding me of a butterfly emerging from the chrysalis

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About Me

I arrived on Stewart Island in 1969 as Forest Ranger. Since then I've fished commercially both in Fiordland and around Stewart Island then skippered our charter yacht in the same waters, and also down into the Southern Ocean. More recently we now have "Sails Ashore" B&B, and I also guide our guests and others on Ulva Island, introducing them to the natural world of Stewart island